Had an interesting chat with Disney yesterday

[stitch34]

I wish it were ala carte or something... pick what you want. We never do CS, only TS - and wish there were a 2 TS a day with 2 snack per day plan.... or perhaps not limit it just to the plans in existence...
offer a QS plan, a 1QS/1TS plan, a 2TS plan, so on and so on.

 

[TDC Nala]

If Disney were to offer a dining plan to fit every preference, the dining plan system would be unintelligible. It's hard enough to navigate through the three existing plans in order to make a decision as it is.

 

[WDWKOOK]

I think a lot of people miss that Disney doesn't want most people coming out ahead or breaking even on the dining plans. They aren't going to make it easier to "get your money's worth". They don't want to offer plans that exactly fit most people's style and amount of food. They'd rather people leave credits on the table. As long as they can claim a possible 20%+ savings without explaining how you'd actually get that, they will have plenty of people buying the plans and feeling good about it.

There is a reason they don't let you add or subtract individual credits.

BINGO!

 

[vicki_c]

BINGO!

I was just coming to post that in response to will's post. While it does save some smarter & more organized people (like DISers) money in a number of cases, the reason for even having the dining plans is to make money for Disney. If they let everyone structure it however worked best for them, they would lose out on lots of the money they make from people who don't use all their credits.

 

[pequele]

You know on the Deluxe plan you don't "have" to do three TS meals per day. You can most definitely use your credits for QS meals also.

The thing is no one is forcing you into the Dining Plan. It either works for you or it doesn't.

Why would you want to do that? I know I would not want to pay for 3 TS meals then use them towards a cheap QS meal! Adding options (ala cart?) would be much more feasible for families. It is just like saying you book a 10 night stay at a WDW resort but you plan on non-park days to go to the beach, stay at the pool, go to SW or US, but Disney MAKES you buy a 10 day park hopper ticket even though you only wanted buy one to go to one park a day and only for 6 or 7 days! You do what works for you and your family to make your trip your own!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

It would be really nice to see other character meal options...I mean, the Pixar characters are so popular and I could see a lot of adults considering such meals as well if there were a Star Wars themed meal. There are just so many ways they could go to improve character meal options. I mean- if they could do anything with the Marvel characters- that would be huge, Phineas and Ferb have a huge following, a pirate theme meal would be awesome, and it would also be cool to just have something like Goofy's at DLR where you could see any number of characters- both rare and common.

As for DDP...the reality is you just can't have a plan, or even a series of plans, that would be cost effective and easy to manage for them that would also meet everyone's needs. We've done the regular DDP and the DxDP and really neither was ideal. Our ideal plan would be 2 single credit TS meals pp per day that included appetizers, entrees, and drinks and 1 snack pp per day, but I know that's not realistic for the masses.

 

[ratlenhum]

They no longer give you the appetizers with the TS credits? So some people complained about it being too much food? What about those of us who enjoy trying the appetizers. They didn't lower the price though. Grrrrrrr

 

[nadira36]

It's wonderful that Disney responded - and in such a personal manner! :good vibes
If you don't mind my asking - which e-mail did you send your message to? I've often wanted to send Disney feedback, but didn't know where to send it.

As one of the few people who LOVE the DxDP the response worries me. I've watched the QSDP and the DDP get smaller over the years and it really worries me that they might take something away front eh DxDP. I love my appies and desserts with meals.

We don't eat 3 TS meals per day, but make the most of the flexibility. We do use our snack credits for bottled water half the time - we have our reasons, and they work for us. But we use 2 snacks per person per day as well as the full value of the DxDP. We also love the service we receive while using the DxDP.

Neither the QS nor the DDP come even close to covering what we eat and if we had a choice between free regular DDP and paying OoP for all meals, we'd pay OoP b/c it'd make more sense for us than to try to figure out how to eat with a plan that is so inflexible.

 

[maxiesmom]

They no longer give you the appetizers with the TS credits? So some people complained about it being too much food? What about those of us who enjoy trying the appetizers. They didn't lower the price though. Grrrrrrr

But the didn't raise the price either. And they now give you a refillable mug for each person on the basic plan, and that is a new addition.

 

[ratlenhum]

I'd rather have a week's worth of appetizers than a cheesy plastic cup,but that's me. We never pick up our refill cups!!! We usually have garden grocer deliver soda/water/snacks to our room. One time we stayed in the pirate rooms and CBR. By the time I walked to and from the food court I would have drank all 3 drinks or they'd be hot by the time I got back.

I just looked because I thought they removed it from all plans when you said that. We are going DxDP so we still get our appetizers

 

[artemis908]

Unrelated to food, but maybe 5 years ago I had a negative experience with a customer service rep on the phone. I had called to ask about something (I think the dining plan) and she wasn't very nice and wouldn't direct me to someone who could answer my question. It was my first negative experience with a phone rep from Disney. I e-mailed Disney and told them about the experience and how my experience has typically been great, it's why I always book directly with Disney because of how nice the people are. It makes me even more excited to go.

I didn't expect to get anything back besides a typical robot email, I was shocked when someone called me. We talked about my experience and then to my surprise she actually offered Disney Bucks for our upcoming trip. It was a pretty amazing customer service experience!

 

[artemis908]

They no longer give you the appetizers with the TS credits? So some people complained about it being too much food? What about those of us who enjoy trying the appetizers. They didn't lower the price though. Grrrrrrr

Personally I wish it was an appetizer OR dessert. Sometimes I don't feel like dessert.

 

[wish_upon_a_star35]

Personally I wish it was an appetizer OR dessert. Sometimes I don't feel like dessert.

I think that would be a fantastic idea! I tried the DDP recently and while it was a lot of food, I actually enjoyed it! It was vacation, I didnt have to cook and we got to try so many different places! I would do it again, if the finances allowed.

However, if I were not happy with the dining plan I would defnitely buy gift cards and just pay OOP.

And I am really glad you got such a great response from Disney! I love good customer service!

 

[havoc315]

Disney would never allow purchase of extra credits, because it's a no win situation for them.

Basic ddp is 1 TS and 1 CS.

You can already add extra meals -- simply pay oop. To add CS breakfast, is only $5-$10 per person.

So let's say Disney did offer the chance to buy extra CS credits. Based on the pricing of the QSDP, it's safe to say that they would probably price CS credits as $14-17 each.

So would you pay $15 for a CS credit, that you intend to use for a $8 breakfast?
Nope, you'd pay oop for that. And only buy extra CS credits if intending to use them for an expensive meal. B

Disney counts on the fact that guests basically lose money on the use of many of their credits. Allowing purchase per credit, would make it much too easy for guests to maximize value.

 

[havoc315]

They no longer give you the appetizers with the TS credits? So some people complained about it being too much food? What about those of us who enjoy trying the appetizers. They didn't lower the price though. Grrrrrrr

Actually when they made the change -- they eliminated appetizer and tip at the same time. And cut the price by $1. (eliminated about $10-15 of value, and cut the price by $1)